US court don sentence Hushpuppi to 11 years for prison

Notorious Instagram influencer, Hushpuppi don gbab jail sentence of more than 11 years for di US for im role for one international fraud syndicate.

Hushpuppi, wey im real name be Ramon Abbas, bin dey show off im wealthy lifestyle on im page wey get 2.8 million followers until Instagram disable di account recently.

Di judge for Los Angeles also ordered am to pay $1,732,841 (£1,516,182) wey be close to Nine hundred million naira to di two fraud victims.

Abbas go serve im sentence of 135 months for one federal prison.

Last year im bin plead guilty to money laundering.

Abbas admit say im attempt to steal more than $1.1m from pesin wey wan fund one new children school for Qatar, court documents for California tok.

Dem say di fraudster use cunny cunny for im victim to provide funds for di school "as im play di roles of bank officials and create one ogbonge website", according to one statement from di den-acting US Attorney Tracy Wilkinson for di US justice department website.

Oda suspects also allegedly dey involved, but na Abbas play di major role, na so di US justice department tok.

Dem add say Abbas also agree to "plenti oda cyber and business email compromise schemes wey evritin gada togeda cause more dan $24 million for losses".

"Ramon Abbas... target both American and international victims, as im become one of di most ogbonge money launderers for di world," Don Alway wey be di assistant director wey dey in charge of di FBI Los Angeles Field Office, for one court document on Monday.

"Abbas use im social media platforms... to gain popularity and im use am brag about di kain wealth wey im don gada...financially ruin many of im victims and also provide assistance to di North Korean regime.

"Dis significant sentence na di result of years worth of collabo between law enforcement for many kontris and go send clear warning to international fraudsters say di FBI go find justice for victims, no mata weda di dey criminals operate within or outside United States borders."

Abbas say sorry for im crimes to Judge Otis D Wright inside one handwritten note, tok say im go use im personal money to pay back im victims.

Im also tok say e only make $300,000 from di crime wey dem try am for.

Aspire to perspire

Abbas' luxurious lifestyle suddenly end for 2020, wen dem arrest am for Dubai.

Im Instagram account, wey feature expensive cars and designer clothing, no follow im show im humble beginnings.

Pipo wey sabi Abbas wen e be pikin bin tell BBC say im papa na one taxi driver and im mama na market trader, but as im grow older im develop weakness to dey splash cash.

"Im dey generous. Im dey buy beer for evribodi wey dey around," One local driver dem dey call Seye tok am.

According to Seye, im allegedly begin im bad lifestyle as "Yahoo boy", wey for Nigeria, mean say men wey dey commit romance fraud as dem dey tiff other pipo identities online and use wayo to collect money from dia lovers.

For 2019, one of Abbas' fraud schemes, wey at dis point don become worldwide affairs, don make di European island of Malta enta gbege as payment systems shut down afta Abbas try to launder €13m ($13m) wey one gang of North Korean hackers tiff from di Maltese Bank of Valletta for 2019.

Who be Hushpuppi

Ramon Abbas wy dey popularly known as Hushpuppi na Nigerian social media influencer .

E dey known for posting photos of e lavish lifestyle on Instagram, where get 2.5m followers.

United Arab Emirates security agencies bin arrest Hushpuppi wey dey live for Dubai for June 2020 on top accuse say im dey plan to tiff plenty millions of dollars through business email compromise (BEC), yahoo-yahoo and oda mago-mago.

Na U.S. law firm, one foreign bank and one English Premier League club be im target.

For July 2020, di UAE later extradite Hushpuppi go Chicago for America under FBI special agents custody wia dem first carry am go court

During di detention hearing, court for di Northern District of Illinois, USA rule say make di U.S. Marshals Service transport Hushpuppi to Los Angeles wia im trial go start.

For pretrial, Ramon Abass don bin plead not guilty to di four counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracies, international money laundering and oda crime dem.